Frequently Asked Questions
What are the distinctive characteristics of the Doctor of Ministry program at McCormick?
Culturally attentive: McCormick strives to provide cross-cultural education that equips religious leaders to serve an increasingly diverse U.S. landscape, and to attend to the cultural needs of students from a variety of racial or ethnic groups by providing theological education that meets their unique needs and the needs of their ministry.
Contextual: One’s place of ministry is the focus of reflection and analysis, bringing academic inquiry to one’s professional setting. The thesis project is rooted in the student’s place of ministry, in partnership with the congregation or agency, and ordered toward the transformation of ministry in that setting. The program integrates theory and practice, values experiential knowledge, and provides theological education that addresses both the internal needs of congregations and the external needs of their broader communities.
Peer-centered: Students enter the program in cohorts that continue to learn together throughout their time at McCormick, in a group-based educational environment that enables students to learn from one another’s experiences and backgrounds.
Our current cohorts include:Korean immigrant churches (Korean American cohorts)
Latinx ministries (Apostolic Assembly cohorts)
Professionals in ministries with a pastoral care emphasis (Pastoral Care cohorts)
Congregations that desire to take a more prophetic role in impacting positive change in their local neighborhoods and communities (Prophetic Leadership cohorts).
Transformative: Students will naturally enter the program with different concerns for the development of their ministries. To answer those concerns, we offer electives with a range of focuses, including parish revitalization, pastoral care, building beloved communities, and public witness. Both core and non-core courses allow students to engage a critical challenge in their ministry through interdisciplinary research – sociological, organizational, psychological, political, economic, historical, theological, and biblical analyses. Through these focuses, we encourage adaptability to changing cultural contexts.
What are the admissions requirements?
Action to admit or not to admit will be taken by the Faculty Committee on Admissions when the following forms and assessments have been received:
Ministry Resume
Conversation with Director (spiritual journey and self-awareness, reason for pursuing DMin)
Transcripts
For non-theological degrees, one (1) paragraph explaining how this degree is ministry-related.
References (lay leadership of ministry context, colleague) rate on a scale of 1-5, with space for comments supporting each
Candidate’s sense of call to ministry
Candidate’s intercultural awareness
Candidate’s openness to growth and change
Candidate’s degree of self-awareness
Would the ministry context make a good learning environment?
One of the following:
Two (2) existing written pieces by the candidate: one from the ministry context showing the candidate’s interpretation of scripture, and one from the ministry context showing the candidate’s understanding of their theological tradition
An academic writing sample engaging scripture and theology
A personal essay describing the role of scripture and its interpretation in the ministry context
What are the Thesis in the Practice of Ministry Requirements
Participation in a two-week intensive thesis residency normally scheduled for January
A 40-page article of publishable quality that:
Identifies and analyzes a particular challenge in the context of the student’s ministry.
Works effectively with appropriate resources from the student’s tradition, the wider culture, and personal experience to understand and address the challenge.
Formulates theological principles to guide thought and action in relation to the
challenge.Designs and implements an appropriate means of responding to the challenge in partnership with others.
Critically evaluates the outcome, learning, and significance of the work undertaken.
How Much Does the Program Cost?
The total cost of study for McCormick’s DMin program is $9,207
Tuition, $900/course: $8,100
Thesis advising fee: $900
Graduation fee: $160
Thesis digitization fee: $36
Governance fee: $11
The Ecumenical DMin program tuition is $10,000 total ($5,000 at the beginning of year one and $5,000 at the beginning of year two)
If the student can pay the full tuition amount at the start of their program, the total tuition is reduced to $8,000
The ACTS DMin program tuition is $11,898, paid over three years ($3,966 per year).
How do I Finance my DMin Education?
The responsibility for meeting the costs of the program belongs to the student, the congregation or agency served, and the denomination of which the student is a member. Continuing education funds, congregational or agency grants, and local, regional, and national denominational scholarship programs are all sources of funds. The Student Financial Planning Office will help students determine their annual expenses.
McCormick has a limited amount of financial aid available for Doctor of Ministry students. Priority is given to racial/ethnic students, women, ministers from small churches, and ministers with income below the average of the student’s denomination.
Students are considered for the Thomas F. Triebel Doctoral Studies Scholarship upon application for financial aid.
When and Where do Courses Take Place?
New cohort begin in the Fall semester and usually take three courses per year. Students may select either online or in-person intensive courses.
Fall courses are offered as a one-week, in-person, intensive at McCormick’s Chicago campus in Hyde Park, with online asynchronous interaction throughout the semester.
We offer an annual one-week January travel seminar for DMin students.
Fully online, synchronous DMin electives meet via Zoom in the Spring and Summer semesters. These electives meet once a week on weekday evenings.
We offer a one-week intensive DMin elective every summer at our Chicago campus, situated in a local ministry context.
What are Housing Options While in Chicago?
McCormick partners with nearby institutions to help provide low-cost housing to students in town for course intensives. Please see the list of Area Guest Housing for location and price information, and contact the institutions listed for availability and reservations.
What Transportation Options are Available While in Chicago?
Downtown and other points of interest are easily accessible via public transportation, and Google Maps can provide up-to-date directions all over the city by car, bus/train, or on foot. Please see the Chicago Transit Authority’s (CTA) website for fare and route information: http://www.transitchicago.com/. Within Hyde Park, public transportation is available via the CTA or the University of Chicago’s free neighborhood shuttle service, UGo: https://safety-security.uchicago.edu/services/transportation_services/. For more information about Chicago go to Choose Chicago.
What are the Next Steps?
Contact our admissions office for information about the programs.
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